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Razer
razer.com › home › the choice of pro players: razer’s analog optical switches vs hall effect switches
The Choice of Pro Players: Razer’s Analog Optical Switches vs Hall Effect Switches - Razer Newsroom Analog Optical Switches vs Hall Effect Switches
June 5, 2025 - A Hall Effect switch will have wider and more inconsistent spacing between each millimeter, whereas an Analog Optical switch will have almost proper consistency between each millimeter through the range and are spaced apart as what a millimeter should be. Effectively with Analog Optical switches, gamers would have far more precise and accurate keystrokes.
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ATTACK SHARK
attackshark.com › home › blogs › blogs
Hall Effect vs. Optical Switches: Which is the Future of Gaming?
September 17, 2025 - Both optical and Hall Effect switches are faster than normal mechanical ones because they don't have debounce delay. But, the Rapid Trigger feature gives Hall Effect a clear advantage in gaming.
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PC Gamer
pcgamer.com › hardware › gaming keyboards
Razer claims optical gaming keyboards are more precise than Hall effect ones because magnets are 'hard to control' | PC Gamer
August 14, 2025 - Razer's testing claims to show that this bears out in practice, with optical switches measuring the travel distance more accurately throughout the entire key press. You can see the straighter line in the graph belongs to the optical switch, ...
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Razer Newsroom
press.razer.com › home › the choice of pro players: razer’s analog optical switches vs hall effect switches
Razer's Analog Optical Switches vs Hall Effect Switches
June 5, 2025 - A Hall Effect switch will have wider and more inconsistent spacing between each millimeter, whereas an Analog Optical switch will have almost proper consistency between each millimeter through the range and are spaced apart as what a millimeter should be. Effectively with Analog Optical switches, gamers would have far more precise and accurate keystrokes.
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MakeUseOf
makeuseof.com › home › technology explained › hall effect vs. optical: what mechanical keyboard switches should you choose?
Hall Effect vs. Optical: What Mechanical Keyboard Switches Should You Choose?
May 12, 2023 - This strip often bounces when touched ... about 5ms. ... Both hall effect and optical switches eliminate this delay, with Razer going as far as claiming that its optical keyboard switches have zero debounce delay....
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Steam Community
steamcommunity.com › discussions › forum › 11 › 4577340984568213042
full keyboard with hall effect switches or optical without gamer aesthetics if possible :: Hardware and Operating Systems
Originally posted by Autumn_:Steelseries does hall effect switches. Their keyboards and switches are good quality from what I've seen, no reason to doubt. Razer, Wooting, and Corsair do optical switches. The former two are good, can't speak to Corsairs switches, and their build quality on it.
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MelGeek
melgeek.com › blogs › melgeek-lab › hall-effect-keyboards-the-future-of-typing-precision
Hall Effect Keyboards: The Future of Typing Precision – MelGeek
September 5, 2024 - Being faster usually makes optical switches popular among gamers but hall effect ones have better durability and offer more uniform keys appealing to those who value longevity and smooth typing.
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XDA Developers
xda-developers.com › home › keyboards & mice › mechanical, magnetic, or optical: which keyboard switch should you choose?
Mechanical vs magnetic vs optical switches
December 17, 2024 - Features such as Rapid Trigger and Snap Tap have grown in popularity since they give comparative gamers an edge in situations where milliseconds of differences matter a lot. Whether a Hall effect keyboard will hugely improve your gaming experience is another matter, but it is indisputable that magnetic switches offer features not possible on mechanical keyboards. When we are talking about latency, nothing comes close to optical switches.
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I have had all kinds of keyboards. From mid level "custom" builds with fancy switches to gaming keyboards with optical switches with 8000hz polling and less than 2 tenths of a millisecond input latency to the Wooting 60HE. I would say that analog hall effect switch keyboards are the only gaming keyboard that is NOT a gimmick. In gaming all of my keys actuate at 0.2mm which alone is a radical difference compared to the typical almost 2 full mm actuation point. But, once you get used to it the rapid trigger is really what sets them apart. You can literally spam A and D in a shooter and whether you've fully released the key or not every tiny little down stroke anywhere is registered. Every time you jump and then need to jump immediately you just will. You just don't have to travel back up over the actuation point anymore. That is something that really does make hall effect keyboards feel so much faster and precise. Don't get me wrong. If you are a bronze player it's not going to make you elite or something. You still have to aim and know what you're doing. Any better player on a 250hz custom board with 40 ms of input latency is still going to be better. But, compared directly hall effects are the clear winner. Especially doing something like rapidly strafing side to side.
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it depends what games you play, if you play a game where every millisecond matter, and you need the fastest response time possible, then yes it can help a lot. otherwise, no it doesn't matter
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Razer
razer.com › home › unleashing precision: the razer analog optical switches gen-2
Razer Analog Optical Switches Gen 2: Precision Redefined
September 27, 2024 - The Huntsman V3 Pro line advances ... fully-adjustable actuation throughout the entire key travel of 0.1mm – 4.0mm, surpassing traditional Hall-Effect ......
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H|ard|Forum
hardforum.com › real life stuff › hardforum tech news
Razer claims optical gaming keyboards are more precise than Hall effect ones because magnets are 'hard to control' | [H]ard|Forum
August 15, 2025 - Optical, on the other hand, uses light which always travels the speed of light. You don't calibrate light as it tends to always travel at the same speed through air. Although I suppose you could get dirt in the sensor and foul things up ... These new fangled keyboards have advanced switches ...
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Reddit
reddit.com › r/ergomechkeyboards › alternative switch technologies? optical, hall effect, induction, tmr
r/ErgoMechKeyboards on Reddit: Alternative Switch Technologies? Optical, Hall Effect, Induction, TMR
October 20, 2024 -

I'm down a bit of a rabbit hole on alternative switch technologies. Mostly out of curiosity, but I'd entertain a build with them if not excessively complicated. It seems like none of the alternatives are really used in the enthusiast "build it yourself" space as it looks like all of them require significant PCB/software design integration.

Optical, Razer seems like the most prominent example. Do you know of any DIY examples?

Hall effect seem to be growing in popularity, and there may be a few semi-DIY examples from Wooting, Keychron, etc. Again, are there any true build it yourself kits?

What about induction? I saw the Cherry MX multipoint series use this tech, and some news about a Ducky One X keyboard using it that I can't actually seem to find any further real info on. Looks like it requires significant PCB design integration though for induction coils under the switches.

Finally Tunneling Magnetoresistance (TMR). I've seen some news about this technology in game console controllers as an alternative to hall effect, mainly to combat stick drift, but couldn't find anything from a quick search as far as key switches go.

Thanks for entertaining my trip down this rabbit hole.

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LTT Labs
lttlabs.com › blog › 2024 › 12 › 31 › hall-effect-keyboards-a-history
Hall Effect Keyboards, A History | LTT Labs
However, this feature has sparked controversy, as it is banned in certain games like Counter-Strike 2, where it’s seen as giving players an unfair advantage. Many of these features are found on optical switch keyboards, and not exclusive to Hall Effect switch keyboards.
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TikTok
tiktok.com › discover › optical-switches-vs-hall-effect-switches
Optical Switches Vs Hall Effect Switches | TikTok
2 weeks ago - Discover the differences between optical switches and hall effect switches for keyboards, and find out which offers better durability and performance.See more videos about Optical Keyboard Vs Hall Effect.
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Oh! Epic
ohepic.com › home › razer optical vs hall effect switches: why light wins
Razer Optical Vs Hall Effect Switches: Why Light Wins
August 16, 2025 - Razer’s internal testing reveals that optical switches consistently outperform both Hall effect and traditional mechanical switches in latency measurements. The company’s data shows optical technology delivers faster response times, which ...